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Drug War Chipping Away At America's Grip On Basic Rights
(An excellent column in the Columbus Dispatch by Steve Stephens
comments on the DEA's seizure of $19,000 from the automobile of Los Angeles
Laker Corie Blount, a resident of Columbus, Ohio, who was pulled over on
Christmas Eve because the tint on his car windows was deemed too dark.
The police undoubtedly would intervene if citizens began seizing squad cars
and returning them only when cops proved the vehicles were not being used for
doughnut runs. But the rules applying to citizens do not apply to the
authorities. Maybe that's why we have so many authorities.)

Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 22:15:43 +0000
To: vignes@monaco.mc
From: Peter Webster (vignes@monaco.mc)
Subject: [] Drug War Chipping Away At America's Grip On Basic Rights
Source: Columbus Dispatch (OH)
Copyright: 1999, The Columbus Dispatch
Website: http://www.dispatch.com/
Contact: letters@dispatch.com
Pubdate: Mon, 18 Jan 1999
Author: Steve Stephens
Note: Steve Stephens is a Dispatch Metro columnist & can be reached at
sstephen@dispatch.com or 614-461-5201.

DRUG WAR CHIPPING AWAY AT AMERICA'S GRIP ON BASIC RIGHTS

David Stern must wish he had the kind of negotiating power wielded by the
State Highway Patrol.

The commissioner watched as team owners in the National Basketball
Association staged a six-month lockout to get contract concessions from NBA
players.

But when the Highway Patrol wanted to squeeze some money from Los Angeles
Laker Corie Blount, it simply seized a big bag of cash from his car.

Blount, a Columbus resident, was pulled over near Wilmington on Christmas
Eve because the tint on his car windows was deemed too dark. The trooper who
stopped him just happened to have a drug-sniffing dog along for the ride.
The dog found no drugs but did alert its handler to a bag filled with
$19,000. (Where can I get one of these money-sniffing dogs?)

No charges were filed, but the money was turned over to the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Agency.

A fine of $19,000 seems pretty stiff for a window-tint violation, but U.S.
law permits authorities to confiscate cash pretty much at will these days.

If the cops decide they want a particular pile of money, they need only
claim that it would probably have been used to buy drugs. To get the money
back, the (former) owner of the cash must take the cops to court to prove
otherwise. The police undoubtedly would intervene if citizens began seizing
squad cars and returning them only when cops proved the vehicles were not
being used for doughnut runs.

But the rules applying to citizens do not apply to the authorities. (Maybe
that's why we have so many authorities.)

Now Blount will have to sue to get back the money. What was he doing with
$19,000 in cash? That's none of your business. None of mine, either. As
Blount made $1.43 million last year, $19,000 represents less than a week's
pay for him. Blount said he got the cash from selling a car, but he
shouldn't have to explain that to anyone -- including the Highway Patrol and
the DEA -- unless charges are filed.

Citizens should have the right to drive cars filled with money (probably
nickels in my case) around DEA headquarters, unimpeded, for hours on end if
they so choose.

Those with the inclination should be allowed -- if not encouraged -- to
fashion two-piece suits of $50 bills, with matching vests of $100s, and wear
them as they ride the elevators at FBI headquarters.

A person's money should be his own, to do with what he will. Authorities
should be forced to prove that money is connected to a crime before taking
it. But we are living in a time when basic rights are routinely sacrificed
to the "War on Drugs,'' and the Bill of Rights no longer means what it
appears to say.

All money is now the government's, whenever it wants to come get it. If the
proposed U.S. flag-burning amendment passes, it will likely become illegal
even to light cigars with $20 bills, because they depict Old Glory atop the
White House.

Blount probably won't miss his $19,000. But many other innocent citizens,
less able to afford the loss and the high-priced attorneys needed for a
court fight, have suffered from the same seizure laws.

How many basic rights will be seized before citizens demand their return?

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DEA agent charged in shooting (The Associated Press says Joseph Armento,
an off-duty federal Drug Enforcement Administration agent, was charged
with shooting into an occupied vehicle and unlawful wounding in Hampton,
Virginia, after a parking lot confrontation left two men wounded, one critically.
The incident early Thursday morning started when three men leaving a bar
got into an argument with Armento and two other off-duty DEA agents.)

From: "Bob Owen@W.H.E.N." (when@olywa.net)
To: "_Drug Policy --" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: DEA agent charged in shooting
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 16:28:12 -0800
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net

DEA agent charged in shooting

Associated Press, 01/18/99 09:41

HAMPTON, Va. (AP) - An off-duty federal Drug Enforcement Administration
agent was charged in a parking lot shooting that wounded two men, one
critically.

Joseph Armento, 34, was charged with shooting into an occupied vehicle and
unlawful wounding, police said. He was expected to surrender to police
Tuesday, Sgt. Jeff Walden said.

The incident early Thursday morning started when three men leaving a bar got
into an argument with Armento and two other off-duty DEA agents.

Joey Turk said that when he saw that Armento and his friends were armed, he
retrieved a weapon from a friend's truck and put it on the hood. That's when
Armento opened fire, Turk said.

Armento was the only one to fire, police said.

Jason Temple, 21, was struck in the chest, the bullet piercing a lung and
passing within an inch of his heart. He was in critical condition Sunday at
Riverside Regional Medical Center. A hospital spokeswoman said his family
asked that no updated information on his condition be released.

Turk, 20, was hit in the upper left arm. He was treated and released.

Turk said he had seen Armento and his two companions drinking in the bar
before the shooting.

`When we walked out of the bar, we looked at them, and one of them said,
`What are you looking at?'' Turk said. He said Temple answered back with the
same line.

DEA officials said the shooting was under investigation.

***

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